Elsharkawy Lamiaa K, Barghash Safaa M, El-Nour Basma M Abou, Labib Wafaa, Sadek Al-Shaimaa M
Zoology and Entomology Department, Faculty of Science, Al-Azhar University (Girl's Branch), Cairo, Egypt.
Animal Health Department, Desert Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt.
BMC Vet Res. 2024 Dec 23;20(1):578. doi: 10.1186/s12917-024-04408-x.
Sarcocystosis is a parasitic disease found worldwide, resulting from various Sarcocystis species. The current research was carried out in three significant economic areas in Egypt: Greater Cairo, the Nile Delta, and Upper Egypt. It aimed to investigate the occurrence of Sarcocystis spp. in locally bred water buffaloes Bubalus bubalis.
To achieve this objective, 317 buffalos were slaughtered in different slaughterhouses in various regions of Egypt. Samples of heart, skeletal muscle, esophagus, and tongue were assessed using macroscopic and microscopic tests. Examination methods included direct optical observation of tissues as well as digestion and examination of the sediment obtained from the tissues. Additionally, ultrastructural features were analyzed using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Molecular characterization was conducted through PCR, followed by nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis.
A total of 317 slaughtered buffaloes were examined for Sarcocystis during the period from September 2021 to October 2023. The prevalence of infection was recorded with 229 out of 317 (72.2%) infected with Sarcocystis spp. The results also showed that the prevalence of Sarcocystis species in females was higher than males. Based on the age of carcasses, adults (> 2 years) had a higher infection rate compared to young ones (< 2 years). Regarding seasonal variation, the highest prevalence of infection was recorded during the summer followed by spring, and then autumn, while winter had the lowest prevalence of infection. Additionally, the skeletal muscle was the most susceptible organ to sarcocystosis (87.3%) followed by the esophageal muscle (8.3%), the tongue (4.4%), and no infection in the heart muscle. The use of scanning and transmission electron microscopy allowed the identification of S. fusiformis and S. cruzi in buffaloes in Egypt. Furthermore, the Sarcocystis 18 S rRNA genes from skeletal tissue samples were cloned and sequenced under accession numbers OQ507387, OQ507388, and OQ507389 for S. fusiforms, and one OQ507391 for S. cruzi.
The findings revealed a notably high prevalence of Sarcocystis infection (72.2%) in buffaloes from Egypt, with skeletal muscle identified as the organ most susceptible to the parasite. Two Sarcocystis species were detected: S. fusiformis and S. cruzi.
肉孢子虫病是一种在全球范围内发现的寄生虫病，由多种肉孢子虫物种引起。当前的研究在埃及的三个重要经济区域开展：大开罗、尼罗河三角洲和上埃及。其目的是调查本地饲养的水牛（水牛属）中肉孢子虫属物种的发生情况。
为实现这一目标，在埃及不同地区的不同屠宰场宰杀了317头水牛。使用宏观和微观检测方法对心脏、骨骼肌、食管和舌头的样本进行评估。检查方法包括对组织进行直接光学观察以及对从组织中获得的沉淀物进行消化和检查。此外，使用扫描电子显微镜和透射电子显微镜分析超微结构特征。通过聚合酶链反应（PCR）进行分子鉴定，随后进行核苷酸测序和系统发育分析。
在2021年9月至2023年10月期间，共对317头宰杀的水牛进行了肉孢子虫检查。记录到感染率为317头中的229头（72.2%）感染了肉孢子虫属物种。结果还表明，雌性肉孢子虫物种的感染率高于雄性。根据 carcasses 的年龄，成年（>2岁）的感染率高于幼年（<2岁）。关于季节变化，感染率最高的是夏季，其次是春季，然后是秋季，而冬季的感染率最低。此外，骨骼肌是最易感染肉孢子虫病的器官（87.3%），其次是食管肌（8.3%）、舌头（4.4%），心肌未发现感染。使用扫描电子显微镜和透射电子显微镜能够鉴定出埃及水牛中的梭形肉孢子虫和克鲁斯肉孢子虫。此外，来自骨骼肌组织样本的肉孢子虫18S rRNA基因被克隆并测序，梭形肉孢子虫的登录号为OQ507387、OQ507388和OQ507389，克鲁斯肉孢子虫的登录号为OQ507391。
研究结果显示，埃及水牛中肉孢子虫感染率显著较高（72.2%），骨骼肌被确定为最易受该寄生虫感染的器官。检测到两种肉孢子虫物种：梭形肉孢子虫和克鲁斯肉孢子虫。
